鈥淚t would be great for this tour to be talked about in terms of being a celebration of rugby. And I know that 鈥楩az鈥 (Farrell) is of the same mind, and so hopefully it can be a really positive celebration of rugby.
鈥淏ecause for us, it鈥檚 a massive window. We don鈥檛 get another window like that. Even the World Cup is fractured in that there鈥檚 a lot of focus on other teams as well. When you become the sole focus, I think we鈥檝e got to try to make it as positive as we can.鈥
The Lions tour was less than a day old this week, however, when the coaches鈥 ambition for off-field positivity took a shot to the ribs, via Lions chief executive Ben Calveley issuing an unnecessarily punchy reminder to Schmidt and RA that the tour agreement requires them to release Wallabies to state sides.
As a genuine point of tension, it was more molehill than mountain. But Schmidt鈥檚 robust retort to Calveley鈥檚 comments – when raised minutes later in this same interview – indicated a positivity push doesn鈥檛 mean being a pushover.
Among Australian media, Schmidt is jokingly referred to as 鈥淕enial Joe鈥, and the nickname shocked some who knew the Kiwi coach in Ireland, when he was notoriously – even punishingly – intense and calculated. They don鈥檛 quite know what to make the new smiling version.
Former Brumbies coach David Nucifora, who worked closely with Schmidt as the IRFU鈥檚 head of high performance, is now on the Lions staff as general manager. He said in a recent interview he would be poring over every word Schmidt utters over the next month.
鈥淭here鈥檚 an enormous amount of respect for Joe,鈥 Nucifora says. 鈥淲e all understand he鈥檚 a very sharp mind, a deep thinker about the game. Sometimes, if you think too deeply, you鈥檒l confuse yourself. So hopefully he gets confused overthinking things.
鈥淚 enjoy listening to interviews to try to get a feel for what鈥檚 he saying, what鈥檚 he thinking. Is he giving anything away here? So I would keep a close eye on that sort of stuff as well. You try to read into it.
鈥淚鈥檓 sure that lots of mind games will go on around … it鈥檚 a bit of a mental spar.鈥
Nucifora鈥檚 comments came after Schmidt had stirred up headlines in the UK by describing the Lions鈥 centre partnership for their clash against Argentina – Bundee Aki and Sione Tuipulotu – as 鈥渟outhern hemisphere centre partnership鈥. Intended or not, the phrase struck a raw nerve, after criticism in the UK about Farrell picking eight Lions who were raised in Australia, New Zealand or South Africa.
Schmidt insists it was not deliberate.
鈥淏undee is one of the players I鈥檝e so enjoyed coaching, and I鈥檇 have so much respect for that fella, that wasn鈥檛 supposed to be a swipe or a jibe at all,鈥 he said.
鈥淚n fact, it was sloppy from me because someone had just been talking to me and described it as that, and then I used their words, and I should have just stuck to my own words and said, 鈥榟ey, there鈥檚 a lot of respect in Australia for Sione鈥.鈥
But seriously now, Joe – are you a clandestine pot-stirrer? Are you one of those coaches who artfully strategises their public comments?
鈥淣o,鈥 Schmidt says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to get distracted by things that aren鈥檛 going to contribute to a better performance. I am putting my energy into a player鈥檚 individual progress, or getting the team to better understand an aspect of our play or that sort of thing, because in the end, that鈥檚 all I can affect. I鈥檓 a big believer in the values of the game, so is Faz.
鈥淚鈥檝e never seen Faz stirring the pot. His energy goes into the team, not into stirring the pot.
鈥淚 know what you鈥檙e talking about. There are coaches who certainly do it, and they even talk to their team through the media sometimes. But if I鈥檝e got something to say to a player, I鈥檇 rather say it to them, than fire a barrel through the media. I know that a lift-out quote or a phrase can be a headline and inevitably, even after 20-plus years of doing this job, I鈥檒l get it wrong.
鈥淚f I鈥檝e got something to say to a player, I鈥檇 rather say it to them, than fire a barrel through the media.鈥滼oe Schmidt
鈥淚鈥檓 conscious of it and I鈥檓 conscious that other coaches do it, but I don鈥檛 anticipate it happening in this Lions tour. 鈥楩az鈥 and I have had a few conversations about how we鈥檇 like the narrative of the tour to be a celebration of rugby. I think for Australian rugby, we need that.鈥
And with that Schmidt is whisked away. There are more photos to take and meetings to meet, and only so many minutes left in the day. There鈥檚 a Lions series to be won.
But despite the plans for good vibe city, the reality is only one team – and one group of fans – will be celebrating on August 2.
Years of work have already gone into being in the dressing room where you get to pop champagne corks.
It鈥檚 a Lions tour, after all. What sort of wild drama may unfold over the next five weeks, well, that鈥檚 hard to plan for.